Nothing dampens my creativity more than the day to day grind at the corporate monster. After a long day of work, it is so easy to procrastinate on writing. My brain is already half-dead at this point anyway. So how did I do it?
Writing my book was not easy. Even though I had the story in my head for years, it took me over a year to actually write it. I was lucky enough to have extra time at night. See, I worked the night shift as a 911 operator. My shift started at 10pm. It was busy for the first four hours but after 2am, it was almost dead. Since I had to be ready for phone calls, I couldn’t just leave my desk. So some nights when I wasn’t joking around or gossiping with my coworkers, I wrote my book.
But that luxury didn’t last long. 911 was a stressful job and I had to quit. Any job I held afterward was less stressful but more time consuming. As a result it took a lot longer to write my second and third books.
In order to keep myself from procrastinating too much, I made certain that I had specific time set aside for just me. No one was to interrupt me during that time. Sometimes I just wasn’t in the mood to write so I goofed around. But most of the time, I buckled down and just did it.
Anyone who tells you they have “secrets” to finding time to write are just trying to sell you something. The true “secret” is discipline. You have to commit and stick to it as much as you can. Never give up. You will have bad days where you get nothing done, but you will have good days too. And the more good days you have, the sooner you can finish your book.
Fantasy/Sci-Fi Author Dawn Ross 